Ideas for Cruise Diving

[MSilvia]

I'm going to try to revive cruise diving from the inside.

I sincerely wish you the best of luck... I know it won't be a simple task.

Still, if a ship has room for several dining rooms, a dozen or more (often nearly empty) bars, etc... I'd think that if the company were serious about wanting to find room for a dive gear locker they could definately make it happen.

Maybe the thing to do would be to open a full-service dive shop onboard... you could make additional money with certification classes and rental gear, have a place for divers to rinse and store their stuff, and (though I know the whole idea is a big stretch) have NCL dive staff run excursions off a modified tender for a fair price instead of contracting the dives out and doubling the rate.

 

[Damselfish]

I sincerely wish you the best of luck... I know it won't be a simple task.

Still, if a ship has room for several dining rooms, a dozen or more (often nearly empty) bars, etc... I'd think that if the company were serious about wanting to find room for a dive gear locker they could definately make it happen.

Maybe the thing to do would be to open a full-service dive shop onboard... you could make additional money with certification classes and rental gear, have a place for divers to rinse and store their stuff, and (though I know the whole idea is a big stretch) have NCL dive staff run excursions off a modified tender for a fair price instead of contracting the dives out and doubling the rate.

I think this is the real answer - run a real/serious dive shop and program pretty much like you would on land. Small tweaks to the usual cruise diving aren't going to get many more people to dive. Presentations or get-togethers might enhance the experience of people who are already on the ship and planning to dive, and that is nice. But I don't think these things will attract more divers to book a cruise to begin with, or get many more people to pay twice the price for what may be a lesser dive experience.

On the other hand, a real dive program and facilities on a ship, that could attract people and maybe actually pay for itself. It would probably deserve some kind of premium. There might still be disadvantages, like you probably wouldn't be able to get as many dives in and all the ports might not be up to the same quality diving. But there would also be advantages, like getting to cruise and convieniently dive in a bunch of places while also keeping the rest of the family happy. I bet some divers that wouldn't otherwise consider a cruise would be interested, and divers who are cruising because they like to or only because of other family members, would be attracted to that particular ship.

I know I fall in this category - I've never been on a cruise, and have thought it might be interesting to try. But I'm not willing to give up a week of good diving for a week on a cruise with a few lame and expensive dives. A serious dive program with things done right, I'd definitely be checking into.

 

[Natasha]

I sincerely wish you the best of luck... I know it won't be a simple task.

Still, if a ship has room for several dining rooms, a dozen or more (often nearly empty) bars, etc... I'd think that if the company were serious about wanting to find room for a dive gear locker they could definately make it happen.

Maybe the thing to do would be to open a full-service dive shop onboard... you could make additional money with certification classes and rental gear, have a place for divers to rinse and store their stuff, and (though I know the whole idea is a big stretch) have NCL dive staff run excursions off a modified tender for a fair price instead of contracting the dives out and doubling the rate.

Excellent ideas.